Life after Miss Rodeo USA

After returning home from the Miss Rodeo USA pageant, I had to get back to 'normal' life. The day after returning home, it was time to hit the books at Iowa State. I had missed the first week of classes competing, so I had my work cut out for me to catch up. I cannot thank my professors for being so understanding of my absence. MRUSA was a once in a lifetime opportunity that couldn't have happened if they hadn't been so understanding. I spent the next few weeks catching up, but before I knew it, it was time for a bull riding, this time a little closer to home. I headed to Des Moines, Iowa, for a SuperBull at Wells Fargo Arena, January 29th and 30th. Once at Wells Fargo I walked around 'backstage' chatting it up with producers, contractors and riders. After the bull riding began I was honored to sit with the secretary and announcer. I was even announced during the show. A big thank you to any of my friends that came and watched, especially Taylor Johnson and Lauren! Thanks guys! At the end of the bull riding the riders and I walked around signing autographs! Night two in Des Moines brought just as much excitement. I got more responsibility this time, running the buzzer! Queens need to be prepared for anything! Again, I was announced during the performance, making me feel very important. Mom and dad made it down for this event, bringing one of my young fans and his mom. Thanks Logan and Andria! I even got the cutest card from Logan! We signed autographs again at the end, and it was a smashing success! A great big thank you to the man in charge, George Marshall! Also thank you to the secretary Cindy, we made quite the pair! It was especially great to see some of the guys after some time off from bull ridings!

I then took a few more weeks off from the queen stuff to focus on school. Just this last weekend I headed to Sedalia, Mo, for one of the Jackson/Walkowe/Simon events! I had Thursday and Friday full of radio interviews, school visits, and even trying the gooberburger. A gooberburger is a hamburger with peanut butter! A huge thank you to Sharon Simon and Todd Pettigrew for taking me around to all of the events. Friday all of the flag girls and I practiced the opening and then got the famous Simon paint horses ready for the performance. Getting them ready included taking all 7 of them to the car wash for a bath! I think I counted 5 people that stopped with their camera phones to take pictures at this odd sight! I had so much fun getting to see Clint, Deana, Tara, Frank, Jeff, and the whole crew. The Friday performance went very well, and there was a great crowd. Dusty Meyers was the clown again, and of course he was hilarious! Saturday I had some time to relax and I headed out to the arena to watch them buck some younger bulls. Then a group of us headed to lunch. Before I knew it, it was time to get my queen on and head to the arena. I was fortunate enough to ride Chuck, crazy enough, Miss Rodeo Iowa 2009 had ridden him at an event not that long ago! Saturday went just as well with another fun filled night of mutton busting, cowboy poker, and of course, bull riding! Well, because I live in the new Antarctica, with all of this snow, I had to hit the road right after the bull riding to head home because of a snow storm headed our way! After a long drive, I made it back to Ames to get ready for another week of school! A huge thank you to everyone that made my stay in Sedalia so fun: Sharon, Amy, Clint and crew, Pettigrew family, and many many others! If you are around the Sedalia area this weekend (February 26th and 27th) be sure to check out the PRCA rodeo put on by the Simons! Until next time...